ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — On Friday, 10 Tampa Bay teamed up with the Education Foundations from both Pinellas and Hillsborough counties as part of an effort to collect school supplies to help students and teachers.
Our team showed up to collect donations from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. Aug. 5 at the Gateway Target in St. Pete and the Target in Riverview.
Because Florida's sale tax holiday was still underway Friday, it was a great day to shop and donate. The greater Tampa Bay region could use the public's support.
In Pinellas County, for instance, 60 percent of students attending school are disadvantaged. Thus, supplies received and distributed by the Pinellas Education Foundation go to schools serving low-income families.
In Hillsborough County, too, the supplies go a long way. Three in every five students there qualify for free or reduced-price lunches. The supplies that get donated help stock the county's Teaching Tools Resource Center. It’s basically a store where teachers from low-income schools can shop for free. In 2021, community donations helped the center distribute more than $4 million worth of school supplies.
Here are the locations of our parallel Aug. 5 events, which both run from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m.:
- Target, located at 8151 Dr. MLK Jr. St. N. in St. Petersburg
- Target, located at 10150 Bloomingdale Ave. in Riverview
The following items are most-needed this year:
- 3-Ring Binders
- Backpacks
- Cap Erasers
- Colored Pencils
- Composition Books
- Crayons
- Dry Erase Markers
- Glue (Bottles & Sticks)
- Highlighters
- Index Cards
- Notebook Paper
- Pencils
- Pencil Sharpeners
- Pens
- Pink Erasers
- Pocket Folders
- Rulers
- Scissors
- Spiral Notebooks
- Washable Markers
For anybody unable to make the in-person supply drives on Friday, it's not too late to help.
In Pinellas County, you can also purchase supplies from the education foundation's school shopping list with AmazonSmile and have items donated directly. Amazon will donate 0.5 percent of all proceeds to the organization.
Hillsborough County also has a wish list for some online shopping.
10 Tampa Bay's Kathryn Bursch contributed to this report.